A decade ago, Kevin Munroe's TMNT hit theaters. I remember pre-ordering tickets for me and my friends the second they were available, only to find the theater hosting about 10 other people that we surely annoyed with our sophomore buffoonery.

Gonna pop this one in the blu ray player after work. It has aged horribly for me and I've grown to mostly hate it, so this is going to be the last time I watch it for a very long while. But it's a day worth commemorating.

snake

03-23-2017, 05:33 AM

I remember seeing it in theatres and forgetting about it for awhile until 2013, when I watched it again. It's not a masterpiece, but I appriciate the effort to try something new. The Nightwatcher stuff and Raph vs Leo is enough to solidify the movie's existance for me. :lol:

Allio

03-23-2017, 05:54 AM

Went to go see the movie with a friend, enjoyed it.

despite the "A" plot being mediocre at best, the "B" plot I felt more than made up for it as it gave "conclusion" to the whole Raphael/leonardo thing that has always been building up.

Still second best film.

d_osborn

03-23-2017, 09:02 AM

Their hearts were in the right place, but Munroe just couldn't pull off the script. I think he was a bit creatively hamstrung on the story by Laird. The loose connection to the original movies was cool, the look of the animation was nice... that Leo/Raph fight was incredibly beautiful. Overall, the movie just didn't work for me.

pferreira

03-23-2017, 09:27 AM

I went to see the film, found it very average. I remember in the run up to the film Channel 4 hosting a competition to win lots of TMNT goodies like the video game. The competition was fixed due to people using hacks so no chance of me winning.

TheSkeletonMan939

03-23-2017, 09:39 AM

I applaud the use of Nightwatcher, and that excellent Leo/Raph fight. Great choreography in general. Excellent music. In terms of script, though, it fluctuated from interesting to contrived to absolutely absurd on a dime.

sgtfbomb

03-23-2017, 11:11 AM

I actually forget this movie exists on occasion. Parts of it were interesting. Never quite understood why they had to get jobs. Pizza money, I guess?

I think the biggest parts of the movie that fall flat for me include the dialogue ("the ghost of the jungle" and the dialogue hinting at the Shredder's return are big examples); the fact that the dialogue often seemed disconnected from the film, much like background noise on a video game; the fact that parts of the film actually look like footage from a video game, like the one shot battle scene; and the main plot, which borrows from a Vincent Price movie.

I never could grasp why they couldn't go with any of the actual villains from the franchise. I mean, if they are going to battle monsters, why not Triceritons?

Powder

03-23-2017, 12:59 PM

Not the best, but pretty decent. I'll watch it later today.

Andrew NDB

03-23-2017, 01:18 PM

To be fair, it's the only TMNT movie beyond the original that's marginally above abysmal.

TheSkeletonMan939

03-23-2017, 01:22 PM

the fact that the dialogue often seemed disconnected from the film, much like background noise on a video game; the fact that parts of the film actually look like footage from a video game, like the one shot battle scene...

Incidentally, the video game gives the film's plot a rather healthy backbone. It's very weird in that it follows the same general plotline, but almost tells in essence a side-story that weaves in and out of the film's plot. It by no means makes the movie any better, but it gives one a beefier understanding of the world the turtles live in.

CyberCubed

03-23-2017, 01:35 PM

it's a decent movie with most of its plot points and backstory revealed in the comic mini-series Mirage did and the extra material like spinoff children's books, oddly enough.

d_osborn

03-23-2017, 02:02 PM

I never could grasp why they couldn't go with any of the actual villains from the franchise. I mean, if they are going to battle monsters, why not Triceritons?
I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure Laird said they can't use anything existing. The antagonists had to be new characters.

Andrew NDB

03-23-2017, 02:04 PM

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure Laird said they can't use anything existing. The antagonists had to be new characters.

That can't be true. I mean they couldn't use, like, Walker or Danny or Tatsu or anything due to Golden Harvest, but guys like Leatherhead and Savanti and such were open game.

CyberCubed

03-23-2017, 02:26 PM

They really should of used Leatherhead and Rat King at least.

Galactus

03-23-2017, 04:19 PM

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure Laird said they can't use anything existing. The antagonists had to be new characters.

Laird posted one of his early correspondences with one of the movie's creators (could have been Kevin Munroe himself) on his blog, he had a list of antagonists he recommended. A pretty lengthy list of Mirage and 4Kids characters.

I would imagine that the higher ups felt that they didn't carry any nostalgia weight like the main Fred Wolf cast (although Out of the Shadows showed that wasn't quite the big draw after all) and perhaps a more valid concern that the likes of Leatherhead and the Rat King conceptually don't come off as antagonists you could build a "big" story around, not that you couldn't beef them up a bit. I could see them just throwing their hands up and saying they should just go with original villains. Laird was into Terracotta stuff at the time and it developed from there.

Powder

03-23-2017, 07:33 PM

They shoulda used Triceratons.

Also, I lied. I don't really wanna re-watch this just yet. :tlol:

ToTheNines

03-23-2017, 08:54 PM

It really is a beautiful movie to look at, but like Osborn said, the script is bonkers.

Mikey sucked, Donnie did almost nothing and Leo's douchebaggery was vindicated. I really liked their take on Raph though, I still hear Nolan North when reading the IDW comics. Karai's Chinese accent still totally baffles me.

The voice talent is a cool link between TMNT past and future though. You have former Shredder Jim Cummings as the main thief in the first act, and Shredder-to-be Kevin Michael Richardson as Aguila. Plus North went on to voice The Kraang and Bishop, and John Dimaggio went from fat Hispanic thug to Pizzaface.

MikeandRaph87

03-23-2017, 09:04 PM

It really is a beautiful movie to look at, but like Osborn said, the script is bonkers.

Summed it up perfectly!

d_osborn

03-24-2017, 11:24 PM

That can't be true. I mean they couldn't use, like, Walker or Danny or Tatsu or anything due to Golden Harvest, but guys like Leatherhead and Savanti and such were open game.
I could be mistaken-- I vividly remember thinking how ridiculous it was, though. I wanna say it was an interview with Munroe. From what I remember, it wasn't a copyright thing, just a specific direction from Laird. It's been ages since the last AskPL... maybe one will pop up soon and we can pick his brain.

I agree with Powder. That type of CGI was perfect for a Triceratons story. TMNT07 was a huge missed opportunity.

Munroe's background was in visuals and animation-- and it really shows. It's a shame that a better screenwriter wasn't given a stab at the script.

***First of Two Latin Kings***

03-25-2017, 04:05 AM

Can anyone name the 4Kids episode it was loosely based upon?

ToTheNines

03-25-2017, 06:38 AM

Can anyone name the 4Kids episode it was loosely based upon?

It was not based on any 4kids episode.

Rooish

03-25-2017, 12:05 PM

There was a script that Munroe wrote that was somewhat better than the one we got, in terms of characterization and pacing. I think he had to shorten or cut it in some way and we got the garbage script we got.

I was so excited to see this movie when it came out because I'd seen so many leaked screencaps and it looked gorgeous. Was very disappointed with everything except the Leo-Raph fight, which would only appeal to longstanding TMNT fans who want to see that stuff settled once and for all.

The plot was so boring. After I watched it the first time, I dragged some friends to it in the hopes that they would like it, but I think they were bored and put off.

To CGI animation fans: was this movie good in its animation? I thought it was, but what do I know.

CyberCubed

03-25-2017, 12:09 PM

To CGI animation fans: was this movie good in its animation? I thought it was, but what do I know.

Well the movie is now 10 years old, but even for 2007 CG standards it still looks good today.

Rooish

03-25-2017, 12:11 PM

Well the movie is now 10 years old, but even for 2007 CG standards it still looks good today.

How did they pull that off? I mean the budget was much less than some of the big CGI movies nowadays right?

pferreira

03-30-2017, 08:57 AM

It really is a beautiful movie to look at, but like Osborn said, the script is bonkers.Meh, I wouldn't say that. There's no real sense of geography to the city and what there is is cramped. The video game did a better job of showing more of New York, making the city come alive.

How did they pull that off? I mean the budget was much less than some of the big CGI movies nowadays right?While the 2007 movie has a number of well known actors everyone involved weren't or aren't exactly A-list. There are a lot of CGI movies released with the same budget that don't have huge names attached and therefore do less well at the Box Office like the 2007 movie.

Andrew NDB

03-30-2017, 10:13 AM

I could be mistaken-- I vividly remember thinking how ridiculous it was, though. I wanna say it was an interview with Munroe. From what I remember, it wasn't a copyright thing, just a specific direction from Laird. It's been ages since the last AskPL... maybe one will pop up soon and we can pick his brain.

That I could see. If Munroe was all, "I wanna use Beebop, Rocksteady, and do the big Krang movie with pizza!" Laird would, of course, say "No."

Candy Kappa

03-30-2017, 12:39 PM

To CGI animation fans: was this movie good in its animation? I thought it was, but what do I know.

I think it's really well animated, and Imagi took a lot of care in the details, such as adding pumping vein animation in the textures (seen on Raph). The rain looks really good in it too.